A Delicate Matter
by DoctorGirlfriend
Summary: I was paging thru the yyh section when I saw a fic that made me think “ShizuruxShigure!” Yes fruits basket Shigure. Shizuru goes to a book signing by her favorite author but gets more than she expected when she sees the spirit haunting him
1. Book Signing

Okay so this is a 'brilliant inspiration' of mine. I was paging through the yyh section when I saw a fic entitled 'Zodiac Sigh;' the description mentioned Shizuru and my first thought was "Shizuru/Shigure!!!!!" Yes yyh Shizuru with _Fruits Basket_'s Shigure. My second thought was "wtf brain, that's weird!" The fic I saw wasn't actually about this pairing, but I decided I liked the idea, so I'm trying it out here.

* * *

1 Book Signing 

"Why are we here again Ai?" the brunette said as she flipped the cigarette from her mouth and ground it into the pavement.

Her newly blonde friend spun on the spot, flapping a novel in Shizuru's face and waving her hand. "Hello, earth to Shizuru, how could you forget our mission?! Karitani Noa-sensei is our favorite author, of course we have to come to his book signing! He never does them; he's a recluse! _And_ this is the release of the sequel to _Summer-Colored Sigh_!" Ai let out a sigh herself as she cuddled the book to her chest.

"Ai, this place is a circus."

It was true, the line of smutty romance fans snaked through the aisles of the massive bookstore, out the door and down the road. It was outside that the pair was waiting while flag-waving employees marched up and down before them, trying to entice passersby to join in the unmoving line. The bookstore was one of the three largest in the city, rising several stories and far wider than the other stores on the block, but it was still unclear just how they had gotten the notoriously reclusive Karitani Noa to appear in public.

Finally they started moving again, the line inching forward every minute or so. After fifteen minutes they were in the door, now only to get through the whole first floor.

"Ohh I can almost see him!" Ai exclaimed, catching the attention of everyone behind them in line.

Shizuru leaned sideways like her friend and rose up on her toes to see over the heads of the people in front of her, and around a bookcase. She could just make out, very faintly, the black hair of the author seated at a table. Someone moved in the line and he was blocked from view.

* * *

They were only a few people in front of them now and Shizuru and Ai could gawk at their favorite author just as much as they pleased while waiting. 

"He's so handsome," Ai whispered.

The brunette rolled her eyes even though privately she agreed. He looked to be in his late twenties at most though dressed in a traditional yukata, with a nice build and slightly shaggy black hair hanging in his eyes. One thing she was surprised by was the pair of wire-rimmed glasses resting on his nose. He would push them up a little every once and a while as he laughed at some fan's comment or made some remark that would set them tittering.

He wasn't the romance novel hero Ai obviously thought he was, no, to Shizuru he seemed almost too smooth, too self-assured. A man who knew how he affected people and how to get the reactions he wanted from them. That easy confidence wasn't something that interested Shizuru anymore; she knew it could lead to dangerous decisions, stupid bets.

And then she saw it. She paused (trying to blink away her disbelief) just long enough for her friend to walk up without her and engage the author in some chit-chat. It took a few seconds longer than normal for Ai to realize that there was a gap beside her that shouldn't have been.

"Shizuru, come on!" she hissed, glancing back to shoot a death glare.

She shook herself and stepped forward, proffering her own copy silently.

"Something wrong?" he asked, with a little half-smile from behind the table, twin copies of the book set up beside him like gleaming traffic beacons directing attention. Behind him, along with a few teenagers milling around and looking bored, was a giant poster, the book's front cover blown up and hung from the second story walkway. He was sitting in a shrine to himself, the worshipers all happily taking their turns at the altar.

"You know you've got a…" she started to say, trailing off as she pointed at an area a little bit over his head. "Aw forget it." 'I must be crazy, going to tell a famous author that he's being haunted.'

"No, you can't say that! Now I'm intrigued." The author leaned forward, looking at her over his glasses as he smiled. He had even produced a fan from somewhere and was gently swishing it back and forth. "Go on."

With a sigh Shizuru planted her hands on her hips and wished she had a cigarette to flick at this guy. "Anything unusual ever happen around you?"

"And what do you mean by unusual Miss?"

"If it happened, you'd know." She shrugged and half turned away, not wanting to explain in front of a store full of people to this obviously skeptical man. "You just must not be perceptive to it, who knows why it picked you. I only said anything cuz it looks like it's been there a while."

She began walking away, dragging her still drooling friend with her. Other fans were waiting and the author would never dream of risking his calm persona, especially in this crowd. With a wave of his hand an orange-haired and obviously irritated boy stalked forward.

"Stall them, as long as you can," the author said out of the corner of his mouth as he smiled at the next fan brandishing her book at him. "Tell them we'll give them free books or something."

"Aw Shi-"

"Think of it as a challenge. I know you can do it Kyon-kyon!"

With another grumble and hands stuffed deep in his pockets the boy stomped off after the women headed for the register.

* * *

"Yo, wait up a sec." 

At the shout the two women paused, Shizuru glancing back over her shoulder as Ai turned around. Before her eyes could even clearly take in the orange-haired boy they widened and she gently put a hand on her friend's arm.

"More than one of you, eh. Are you related to Mr. Hot-stuff over there," she flicked her wrist carelessly in the direction of the author's table, but her eyes stayed fixed on the boy and her posture was alert.

"Yeah, he's my cousin." He shifted from foot to foot, his eyes sliding between the two women before they came to a stop on the brunette. "Whadaya lookin' at me like that for?" He dropped his eyes to the side, kicking at the nearest bookshelf as he did so. He hated that look, he'd gotten it all his childhood. "I ain't gonna jump you, stupid woman."

"Yeah, well I would say it's not completely out of the range of possibilities, kid."

"Hey, what the hell are you talking about? I just came over here because that idiot told me to talk to you guys and all of a sudden you're accusing me of being some weirdo!"

"Well, what's keeping it in check?" she asked, still eyeing him like a dangerous animal.

"This."

All three started as another boy appeared, holding up the first's arm and flicking a bead bracelet that was dangling from orange's wrist.

"Haru, don't snake up on me like that!"

"Just how many of you are there?"

Haru's melancholy eyes rested on Shizuru's a moment before he answered, giving her a chance to take in the crazy dye job on his hair. It looked like something Kazuma would have done in his early middle school days. "Fourteen total, including the three of us you just met. Kyo in future you should try to be less intimidating when you're trying to get women to stop and talk to you."

"Shut up!" The cat pulled his arm free of his cousin's grip and looked away, rubbing angrily at the spot Haru's hand had been. "You don't know what you're talking about Haru, good for nothing cow."

"Please," the brunette drawled, an unlit cigarette wiggling between her fingers as she gestured. "The two of you couldn't do intimidating if you were auditioning for a yakuza flick. You're just weird, not that I haven't seen my share already. Hell I've seen way weirder than anything you kids could throw at me."

"Hm, I see. Okay," the white-haired boy said as he rubbed his chin, only to be smacked in the back of the head by his older cousin. "What I meant was: do you want to test that?"

"Jut try me."

"Shizuru is this going to be one of those things you do?" Ai asked, leaning towards her friend and holding her hand to the side of her mouth. "One of those, _you knows_."

"It's sure looking that way." She adjusted her jacket slightly and glared at a passing couple who was eyeing the group strangely.

"Ah well, I think maybe we should keep going, because well, you know…"

"You're probably." She nodded at the other woman and absentmindedly pulled her lighter from her pocket, only to drop it back in as she realized what she was doing. "It's best not to get involved in other people's mess."

"Fine! It's not like we wanted you to stick around anyway," the cat exclaimed, spinning on his heel and marching off. Out of the corner of her eye Shizuru saw a girl going after him.

"Oh Kyo," Haru sighed. "I'm afraid he's short-tempered."

"Well it was very nice to meet you but we have to be going now!" Ai called, grabbing Shizuru by the arm and pulling her into the stream of people headed for the registers.

* * *

"Need a light?" 

She inhaled as the match extinguished its short life on the end of her cigarette. 'Cancer sticks' Keiko kept calling them in an attempt to get her and Yusuke to quit, but with Botan helping out she was having far more luck on the boy.

"Thanks." She stopped fumbling for her lighter and looked over at the helpful stranger, only to find the yukata-wearing author at her elbow. He was a few inches taller than her, impressive given that with her Kuwabara genes she was nearly average height for a man. She always thought it slightly unnerved Kurama that he had to look up at her.

"Never send boys to do a man's job, eh?"

"Hmph."

"You're quite the conversationalist, Miss—" He paused giving her an innocently questioning smile.

"Kuwabara Shizuru."

"Sohma Shigure, it's a pleasure to meet you."

She merely sniffed at his polite introduction and little bow, inclining her head to the side. People were passing before them on the sidewalk in front of the bookstore and many kept glancing over at the man apparently named 'Shigure.' Traditional clothes were less and less common these days, and as he too lit up it was a slightly incongruous sight.

"Pen name?"

"Well I wouldn't want people connecting these works with the ones I write under my other names. I would be taken less seriously all around."

"So which one's your real name?"

"The one I just told you Kuwabara-san." He smiled again that innocent smile, but she knew he was smarter than that. "So where did your friend run off to?"

"She had to go back to work," Shizuru said, watching him carefully. He took a long drag before exhaling slowly, either turning things over in his mind or just admiring the building across the street, she couldn't tell. She took another drag as well, looking over the people who were covertly eyeing them. 'The sun's out at least,' she thought as she craned her head back to take in the rays. Standing there in the slightly surreal situation of smoking with the man behind a few of her favorite books she had to look for something more normal. A demon attacking the mindless crowd would have done nicely. Then her brother and his idiot friend would have come rushing in to save the day, causing massive property damage while they were at it, and everything would have been good.

After another moment of silence the author spoke again, his attention still on some distant spot of air. "You seem to have stumbled onto a little family secret."

"It didn't look so little to me. A dog, a cow and a youkai, and apparently eleven more of you."

"A what?" he asked, turning to her in some surprise.

She shrugged and flicked her ashes towards the street. "A youkai, I couldn't tell what type, if it had been an animal spirit, an elemental or what. It was degraded, twisted. It looked miserable, hurt, and angry, and those make it possibly dangerous.

"The cat," he mused, rubbing his chin and looking out over the traffic, "in its true form." She caught his sly sideways glance before he turned back and smiled. "Do you think it would be possible to have you do some consulting on this matter?"

She dropped the cigarette and ground it under her heel. "Maybe. I won't promise you anything, I'm just a psychic, not an exorcist."

* * *

goofy i know, but i just had to put it out there. it won't be long, maybe another chapter or two if i feel like writing any more. i'm not planning on making this a whole long arc, just a little 'what if' for the pairing 


	2. Consultation

2 Consultation

"And why is this woman coming to our house again Shigure?"

"Because I invited her Kyo," the author said, bending his newspaper just enough to eye his fellow diners over the top. "And if you can't be civil perhaps you could at least refrain from verbally attacking her, maybe until I've gotten some information out of her at least, hm?"

"I didn't verbally attack her!" the cat shouted back, slamming a fist onto the table as his temper flared.

"Of course you didn't," Yuki said evenly as he sipped his tea. "I don't see why Shigure seems to think you have anger problems."

Kyo banged on the table again and leaned forward, jabbing a finger in Yuki's face. "You stay out of this you stupid rat!"

"Or what, you'll challenge me again? Stop being tiresome, we know how that always turns out."

"You guys…uh…" Seated between them Tohru was in the danger zone as beams of hate winged back and forth.

"Can't we at least pretend to be a happy family when Kuwabara-san arrives?" the author sighed, leaning back and eyeing the three teenagers.

Outside, suddenly, where there had only been the sounds of birds and crickets, there was an explosion.

"You IDIOT!" Another explosion followed; the sound of something heavy smacking the ground with unnatural force. "I Can't Believe You Followed Me!" Every other word was followed by a dull thud and at one point a slightly sickening crunch. "And not only did you follow me, you brought along your misfit friends!"

"Oi! What's that supposed to mea—" the boy speaking gruffly never finished as his sentence ended in a sudden gulp.

"Should I perhaps be offended that you have lumped me in with Yusuke under the term 'misfit' Shizuru-san?" a much calmer voice asked with only the slightest edge to it.

"If I am not mistaken, our guest has arrived, and before Haru and Momiji too."

Kyo subsided into a low rumble while Tohru poured him another cup of tea. Yuki merely sighed and took another bite of breakfast, knowing whatever was coming could not be good. While Shigure got up and made his way to the front door, the other three sat listening to the conversation still going on outside.

"Sis, this place gives me the creeps," this new voice spoke in a hoarse whisper that somehow managed to carry all the way to the living room. "Let's go before they come out and try to eat us or something."

"Kuwabara, if normal demons can't stomach you I'm sure nothing weak enough to be possessing humans would even bother."

"Now Yusuke, I'm sure there are plenty of demons that would find Kuwabara-kun to be quite the treat."

"Will you guys shut up?!" the woman yelled again, but this time there was no thud. Either she was restraining herself or the boys had moved a safe distance away.

They heard the rattle of the front door opening and Shigure's amused voice. "Ah, welcome to my humble abode Kuwabara-san, and your honor guard."

"Sorry," the woman muttered. "My idiot brother and his friends decided to tag along in case you were planning to put me in a stew or something."

"Well there go the dinner plans!" the dog laughed, stepping aside to let the woman in.

She turned in the doorway as her brother began to step forward and the look she fixed on him was enough to make all color drain from his already bruised and beaten face. "Wait. Outside."

* * *

Shigure reentered the dinning room, the tall brunette a step and a half behind. "Kuwabara-san, these are my cousins Yuki and Kyo," he said indicating the boys, "and their classmate Honda Tohru."

"So the girl's named Tohru and the boy is Yuki? Well it's nice to meet you anyway." Tohru blushed, too flustered to be able to respond and Yuki merely blinked at the woman's ironic tone. "There's a dog a cat and a mouse living in the same house?" she asked, turning a look on Shigure. "I guess I've seen weirder. So tell me about this curse or whatever it is."

"Fourteen members of our family are under the curse," the author said, taking his seat at the table and gesturing for Kyo to make room. "There are the twelve members of the zodiac, the cat, and God."

"God?" Shizuru asked.

"Yes, the head of our family is also possessed by the spirit of the god from the legend. All fourteen spirits are currently incarnated, which doesn't happen that often."

"When was the last time?" Tohru asked, having found her voice now that information was forthcoming on the Sohma curse.

"Uh, we don't actually know," the author smiled and scratched his head, eliciting a frustrated huff from both the boys.

"What effect does the curse have on you?" Shizuru asked, sipping at the tea Tohru had set out for her. "I mean you all obviously don't see what I see, so what do you see?"

"Well its more like what happens. Kyo, hug Tohru."

"Reehhh?" Tohru exclaimed jumping suddenly and flushing.

"The Hell! What do you mean 'hug Tohru'?!"

"The woman needs a demonstration!" Shigure responded, flapping his fan at the orange-haired teen.

"Why don't you hug her?!" he yelled back, pointing an accusing finger at Shizuru.

"That would be inappropriate!"

It seemed like they were just getting into stride and across the table Yuki sighed. With a roll of his eyes he leaned towards Tohru and put an arm across her shoulders. They all jumped at the loud Pop and sudden cloud of smoke. While Shizuru sat up on her knees to look for the missing boy whose clothes were floating to the floor the door burst open and her brother came charging in, shoes still on.

"Sis, are you okay?" he shouted, nearly barreling over the author.

"What the Hell are you doing?" she yelled back as Kyo began yelling too, though it was directed at Tohru and the absent Yuki. Yusuke came trotting in right behind his friend and Shigure began commenting about all the ruckus in his house, slipping in a few snide remarks about 'property damage' that made Kyo twitch.

"How very interesting."

That comment made everyone pause and look around; it came from a redhead standing in Yuki's former position and holding a gray mouse. He bent down and set the mouse on the table where, Shizuru noted, it stood on its hind feet and looked around at them. She also saw that Kurama had taken the time to remove is shoes before walking across the Sohma's tatami floor.

"When'd he come in?" Kyo asked and everyone else shrugged.

"It was impolite of me to pick you up Sohma-kun, but it appeared that Yusuke was about to step on you," he said to the mouse.

"Wait… is that—?" Now that she was looking carefully Shizuru could see the strange, humanish aura around the mouse.

"Ah yes, that's Yuki. You see, when ill or embraced by a member of the opposite sex we cursed Sohmas transform into animal possessing us."

"Ok, now that's pretty freaking weird. So you guys can't even touch girls?" Yusuke said, dropping to a seat on the floor.

"Well, we could, say, shake hands, but no hugging, no falling on people or having them fall on us, and even bumping too forcefully can cause a transformation," Shigure ticked off the no-nos on his fingers. "So Kuwabara-san, do you have any ideas on our little family problem?"

Shizuru opened her mouth to reply to her favorite author but was cut off by her little brother. "Maybe your family did something to piss 'em off!"

"Naw Kuwabara," Yusuke said, smacking the taller boy. "They're probably just evil and get a kick out of messing with people like that. I bet we can lure—"

"OUT! Both of you. Now."

"But, but sis," Kuwabara began to say. A raised fist and death glare quickly silenced him and he began shuffling towards the door, Yusuke following.

"Kurama you can stay because you're not an idiot," she said as the redhead moved to follow his friends. "I don't think these spirit mean ill. It doesn't seem like they try to really posses you, you know: control your behavior, sap you life energy, cause misfortunes. It seems like they're trying to be as benign as possible and are just using your bodies as vehicles to remain on earth."

* * *

Later the proceedings had broken down once more with the new arrivals and the adults had made their retreat. Shizuru and Shigure sat on the porch outside the dinning room lazily smoking in the cool afternoon. She was letting her legs dangle over the side, her feet just brushing the grass while he sat sideways, able to look at her and back into the dinning room.

"You seem unfazed by all of this," Shigure said, casting an eye over the room behind them.

Kuwabara was now trying to contact the cat possessing Kyo and ask it why it wouldn't leave him alone, so the two boys were sitting cross-legged and staring at each other. There was a white rabbit in Tohru's lap as she tried to call encouragements and Yusuke pulled faces. In the background Yuki was hovering, unsure of how involved he wanted to be in their insanity while fending off Haru's incessant poking. And Kurama was sitting behind his friends reading, having yet again produced a book from some mysterious place.

"I've seen weirder," she said with a shrug. "Look at Yusuke, he used to be dead."

"Used to be dead?"

"Yeah, for a couple weeks or something. My brother made a big scene at his wake and got his ass dragged back home by his friends. And red over there isn't quite human. You could say he's got a case of possession way worse than anyone in your family."

"But our little problem was enough to catch your interest."

"Hm well it is pretty strange. Just how close do I have to get to make you transform?" she asked, leaning sideways and flicking her cigarette out after her last puff.

"Well, we'd actually have to be touching," he said, shifting forward ever so slightly.

"Then how you can write everything you do if you can't even get close to a woman?"

The author nearly fell over, but managed to catch himself. There was hardly a pause before he said, "Well there are interesting ways of getting around it once you figure out just what is meant by 'embrace.'"

She laughed and snuffed out his cigarette before the filter could burn. "Sohma-san, you really are a pervert."


End file.
